Monday, November 5, 2012

THE TIMES OF INDIA: MUMBAI: Even as
investigations into allegations of diversion of rice meant for the
mid-day meal scheme for schools in parts of Mumbai and surrounding areas
continued on Sunday, the ISKCON Food Relief Foundation (IFRF), the
mid-day meal contractor under the scanner, claimed it had repeatedly
approached government agencies to stop excessive supply of rice to it.

Following raids by the office of the controller of rationing and
director of civil supplies at the Patel Cold Storage warehouse in Turbhe
and another unit Ace International
in Koparkhairane, the Navi Mumbai police on Saturday registered two
cases against the owners of these units and IFRF purchase manager Sunil
Kumar Party for illegal hoarding aimed at diversion of rice in the open
market.

About 15,267 bags with a total amount of 7,634 quintal
rice, worth over Rs 2 crore in open market, were confiscated during the
raid. Warehouse officials told the police that they had been holding the
stock since June 2012 at the behest of the IFRF. Warehouse records also
showed that 15,458 bags were transported at IFRF's behest from Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns to the warehouse during the period.

Questioning the excessive storage and the difference between the
quantity of rice confiscated and transported quantity, rationing
officials alleged that rice was being diverted.

HG Radha
Krishna Das, program managing director, IFRF, denied the allegations. On
February 2, 2010, Das had written to the additional municipal
commissioner, eastern suburbs, BMC, informing him that the "quantity of
rice received from FCI is more than what was required for preparing the
meals". The IFRF had said that to prevent malpractice and waste, it
should be permitted to either exchange the extra raw rice for other
ingredients like dal, spices and ghee or lift only as much rice as
required. Alternatively, the NGO had also sought permission to
distribute the balance raw rice to the children at the end of the month.
"Our communication yielded no response," Das said.

While
rationing officials continue to maintain that after storage at the
warehouse, the FCI rice was "polished" at Ace International before being
repacked in jute bags and sold, Das maintained that the unit was one of
three facilities used by it for "cleaning" of the rice. Das claimed
that the rice transported from the godown was not in a ready-to-use
condition. Das produced official letters regarding the cleaning facility
with various government and semi-government agencies. Even the office
of the controller of rationing and director of civil supplies had
responded to one such letter in 2010.

Women & child devpt min to meet CM

Women and child development minister Varsha Gaikwad
will discuss the controversy over contracts allotted by her department
for supply of supplementary nutritious food to children in the six
months to three years age group and pregnant and lactating mothers with
CM Prithviraj Chavan on Monday. Following an adverse report submitted by
commissioners to the SC about the matter on Friday, the department is
also seeking legal opinion. Over the last two years, several cases have
been filed in this regard.